


Now and Then

by tietouch



Category: DRAMAtical Murder
Genre: Alternate Universe, Future AU, M/M, is it sci-fi??
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-03-20
Updated: 2014-03-30
Packaged: 2018-01-16 09:19:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,427
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1341814
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tietouch/pseuds/tietouch
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In the years of his life (although he has never been alive as a human), Clear never thought that he could meet a young man that somehow was able to change his dark life after his grandfather died. He never thought about living a little longer, and this man changes his point of view of life.</p><p>(AU)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Uhh, yeah~ So this is my second DMMd fanfiction. I don't really know, the idea just pops out in my head before I go to school. I was somehow eager to write this, so here it is! I hope you enjoy this fic :D
> 
> NOTE: This work is unbetaed, so there might be some grammar errors in this.

“Grandpa, I am lonely.”

It was a simple phrase, as a man with soft grey hair sat in front of a grave, holding a bouquet of red roses close to his chest. The man’s soft pink eyes glanced at the gravestone, and he closed his eyes softly.

Something deep down his chest hurt.

“Grandpa, what should I do now?”

He knew that no one would answer him, let alone hear him. His grandfather’s grave is so far away from the nearby town, at a small hill near the long forgotten district. The man sat for another ten minutes in silence, and then he sighed.

“I’m so lonely, and it hurts here, living on my own like this…”

No answer. Of course, he did not expect that he will receive any answers anyway. He’s all alone right now. He got no family left, no friends, no colleagues, no pets or anything that will keep him from being lonely.

“… Grandpa, what’s my purpose on living much longer, now?”

-x-

Although he said it, he knew that he can’t die.

It’s not like he won’t die, but he can’t.

He’s not even alive as a human in the first place, so he can’t die.

-x-

Being alone on his own, he always wonders.

He’s never human in the first place. The day he was born, all he knew was darkness and light. The day he was born, he was already in the artificial body he’s in right now, and he was already in an adult size. He never knew what emotion is, what pain is, what caused human to lose control, et cetera.

He never knew, until his grandfather found him.

He didn’t even have a name in the first place. He only got a serial number, which he didn’t even remember what the number was, so he didn’t know how he should address himself as. That was the time when his grandfather finally decided to name him ‘Clear’.

Without second thought, he accepted it. He never asks why grandfather named him so, he never asks what the meaning of his name was, and why grandfather decided to keep him instead of throw him away as he was instructed to do to.

“It was a waste to throw you away, Clear,” he remembers the day when grandfather told him so, and it was ten years ago. “You might not know why I picked you up, but I have this feeling that you will be useful to the world.”

And just like that, Clear never asks anything more about himself to grandfather.

Time passed, and grandfather teaches him about many things. He told him many things about human, about the things that called feelings. It made him feel like he was treated like a little human child, not an adult-sized robot.

But that made him happy.

Because he knew that grandfather was glad that he was alive.

-x-

_But now, since grandfather’s gone, what should I do?_

_Keep on living, alone like this?_

_…_

_That’s not my purpose._

-x-

Clear knows that he can’t die, but he knows that his body can stop functioning.

After wasting five years of being all alone on his own, he can’t take it anymore. Something feels so hollow in his chest, and it hurts him so much. It feels like it’s eating him from inside out, and although it may be not real, it really hurts.

That’s why, he decided to stop functioning.

-x-

_…_

_…_

_There were footsteps outside._

He could hear the sound of footsteps and voices outside. Although he stopped functioning, he could hear it. Something must make him stirred awake like this, although he wasn’t sure what was.

_Who?_

“You know, there might be nothing inside, Aoba. Come on, let’s get back before Mink scolds us.”

_Who is that?_

“Aw, come on, Koujaku! I can sense that something is inside. It might look so old, but I can sense it inside! And about Mink, don’t worry about him. I can handle him.”

_… Who?_

“… Ugh, okay, fine. Sometimes it’s you that I can’t handle.”

“Koujaku, come on!”

There were more voices from outside, and slowly, he hears the door creak open. There were some seconds of silence, but then he hears it. It was faint, but he could hear a soft gasp coming off from one of the men.

“See, Koujaku? There’s something inside!”

“… I hate it when you’re right if there’s actually _something_ inside _somewhere_ strange, Aoba.”

“You’re the one who said that I have this strange-radar thing.”

“Whatever… Anyway, is that even alive?”

_What is ‘that’ that you’re talking about?_

“Whoa—Koujaku, it stirs.”

_What’s ‘it’?_

“Hey—hello? Can you hear me?”

_Hear what, hear who?_

Slowly, Clear moved his heavy eyelids open. He didn’t know what made him feel that he should open his eyes, although he had decided to end his life.

And he didn’t regret opening his eyes for now, as he sees a beautiful young man with long blue hair that kept in a simple ponytail crouching in front of him.

“Holy shi—Koujaku, call Mink and tell him that we found something!”

It was the last sentence that he could register before everything fade to black once again.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> An update! Sorry this took awhile, I was confused on what to write and how to write it(?). Anyway, I hope you guys will enjoy this (pointless) chapter! Feedbacks are welcome!! :'D  
> Also, this fic's tags and ratings will probably change as the story goes on.  
> Self-beta'd so there may be grammar mistakes!

“If possible, avoid meeting with anyone except me.”

That sentence was the thing that reduces his functions. No more meeting with another human beside his grandpa, no more talking with another human beside his grandpa, et cetera. When he was first crated, his purpose is to destroy, to hurt, and to kill.

But when he met his grandpa, everything changed.

Clear learned a little bit of the purpose of staying alive.

-x-

_But that only stays for three years._

_After that, grandpa dies._

_And it becomes lonely for me, although I’m not even a human._

-x-

After his grandpa died, he wonders.

What is the meaning of life? What’s his purpose of staying alive right now, if he’s all alone in this world? Is he even alive right now?

Clear was a robot, so he never has any needs to eat or drink, so it was possible for him to sit through a year without moving to get some nutrition to his system, because he didn’t need it. It was possible for him to stay in a place for a year, unmoving, wondering about the meaning of life.

Five years passed just like that, and sometimes Clear wonders about why his systems can still work normally without ending up overheating because too much thinking.

In the first place, Clear wasn’t installed with any programs to understand human emotions. That’s why; learning for the meaning of life and death was difficult for him. It was still difficult for him to understand what the meaning of sadness was, what happiness was, what love was, and et cetera.

He felt like for once he understand it, but at this point, he had forgotten about them.

That’s why, after six years of silence, he decided to shut himself down.

-x-

There are people around him.

They are not circling him in wonder, though, not like before. Although Clear’s sense hasn’t returned yet, he could sense that this is not in his previous position—his grandpa’s house. Had he been moved on from grandpa’s house to somewhere else? Is he in the garbage dump right now? Did someone dump him? Did someone make fun of him?

There are chattering, and he could hear some heavy footsteps echoing through the room. Fading away, like leaving him.

A few seconds passed in silence; and Clear regained control of his artificial muscles once again. Slowly, he opened his eyes, and he was a bit surprised to find a blurry figure of someone standing in front of him.

When his gaze comes into a focus, Clear remembers. That man, who was standing in front of him, was the one who found him in grandpa’s house. He remembers, because the color of his hair is unique.

That man was standing in front of him with a clipboard in his left hand, and he seems to be writing about something on it. He was the same person from before, with the same appearance. The thing that makes it different that was the white lab coat that the man was wearing.

As if sensing that Clear is awake, the man looked up, and quickly a bright smile filled his face. “Good morning, there.”

Clear blinked, dumfounded. Did that man just greet him?

“I’m sorry that you can’t speak right now, but I know that you can hear me,” the man continued, stepping closer to him. Just now he realized that he’s standing inside some kind of tube, and he could see light blue-ish liquid flows around his body. “I haven’t introduced myself, right? My name is Aoba, and I’m sure you have a name too. Even though you’re an old model, which usually comes with some codes and without a name, I know that you have a name.”

Clear just blinked, and reflexively he opened his mouth to speak. But, much to his surprise, no sound comes out from him.

The blue-haired man—Aoba chuckled, and he steps closer to the tube. “Like I said, you can’t speak right now. When I found you for the first time, I was surprised to see you still functioning with almost all of your artificial senses broken. It was a challenge to fix you up, but with Noiz’s help, I can restore your functions again,” Aoba paused, placing a hand on the cold glass with a smile plastered on his face. “But we weren’t finished yet, and Noiz’s still fixing your speaking function. It won’t be too long to finish, I think.”

Clear just blinks as a response, because he can’t talk and he didn’t think that he’s allowed to move too much.

“Did you know how long you were asleep?” Aoba asked after a few minutes of silence, and Clear shook his head as a negative answer. He did remember that he was asleep for a long, long time, but he never knows how long he was asleep.

“Mink, my senior, estimated that you were asleep for almost a hundred years,” Aoba said, and his bright smile was reduced to a small, bitter smile as he sees Clear’s shocked expression. “It was a surprise that you’re still functioning, like I said.”

Clear was dumbfounded. Almost a hundred years… How long that was? How about the condition of his grandpa’s grave? How about the city’s condition?

A low beep brings Clear back to the present, and he watched as Aoba takes a glance at something in his wrists. The blue-haired man cringed, and quickly walks away from Clear’s tube.

“Actually, I want to talk a bit longer, but Koujaku and Mink needs me. I’m sorry, but I must go,” Aoba said, bowing as an apology. Quickly, he walks away, leaving Clear all alone inside the tube.

But just after Aoba opened the door, he stopped all of his motions. Then, he turned half of his body to face Clear, a bright smile appearing on his face.

“You know, I’m looking forward to know your name, and I’m looking forward to talk to you about everything soon.”

And with that, Aoba closed the door.

As soon as the door closed, Clear feels something stirs deep down his chest. The android only blinked, as if confused with the sensation. Well, he was clearly confused with the sensation. It was somewhat warm and calming him at the same time.

Somehow, he felt like he will know more new and interesting things if he talks more with Aoba.

-x-

A week passed, and Clear had regained all of his senses back.

In the past week, he met Koujaku, Mink and Noiz. The only one who was as kind as Aoba to him was Koujaku, and the other two never really talked to him. Koujaku was the same as Aoba, because he always talks to Clear about the events in that day even though he knows that Clear can’t talk back at him in this state. But, Aoba was the one who introduced his friends to Clear.

Koujaku was a (seemingly) charming person, and Aoba said to him once that sometimes Koujaku flirts with almost every girl in the lab. Koujaku was Aoba’s childhood friend, and he said that they were almost always together. Aoba also mentioned that he usually went out to search for some old projects—like him—with Koujaku. It seems like Koujaku was the closest person to Aoba in the lab, and Aoba mentioned that Koujaku was like an older brother to him, and Koujaku was his working partner in the lab.

Mink, Aoba’s senior and also his superior, was a terrifying man. At least, that’s what Clear thinks, because the older man never smiles and always glares at him coldly whenever he got in the lab to check on Clear’s condition. But, Aoba once mentioned that Mink is not as terrifying as he looks, because sometimes Aoba was helped with Mink’s kindness. Aoba also said that Mink was probably a shy man because he’s actually a good man but he never shows his kindness to anyone else except Aoba.

Noiz, Aoba’s junior who’s somehow far smarter than him, was an annoying man for Clear. He has the same aura as Mink’s, because he always glares at Clear coldly whenever he checks on Clear’s condition or to upgrade things. Aoba said that maybe it’s because Noiz is the youngest person in the lab so sometimes he would feel out of place, but actually he’s a good person too. Aoba also mentioned that Noiz somehow loves sweets too much.

Today, Aoba told him that Noiz has finally fixed the problems on his speaking unit. He will also be released from the tube because his condition has improved. So from today on, he could be free.

“I’m looking forward to know your name and talk about many things with you, you know,” Aoba said with a smile, tapping the glass of his tube gently. Clear just tilted his head in wonder, because in the past week, he’s always wondering—why was Aoba interested in him? Is there something that’s different in him? Or did Aoba only see him as another specimen?

“Five minutes from now, Noiz will shut you down for awhile to fix your speaking abilities. Probably it’ll take some time, but I’ll be outside. Mink had prepared some clothes for you, too.”

After saying that, Aoba held his clipboard in his left hand again and starts writing about things that Clear can’t see or understand. He was still confused about why and how was Aoba interested in him. But it won’t be long for him to understand why, right?

_‘Soon,’_ Clear thought to himself; closing his eyes. ‘ _Soon, I can ask about these things. About why was he interested in me…’_

“Okay—I’m leaving now, alright?” Aoba said suddenly, and Clear opened his eyes once again slowly. Aoba was still standing there with the clipboard held in his left hand, but with Noiz standing beside him now. The blue-haired man was smiling, as if to soothe Clear’s sudden nervousness, and Clear wasn’t sure but the other man looked nervous himself.

“It will be alright, okay? I will wait outside. Noiz will fix you completely, and soon, you can speak,” Aoba added, handing the clipboard to Noiz. The younger man accepted the clipboard and walking somewhere behind Clear, and Aoba took a step closer to Clear’s tube.

“Soon, you can tell me your name and you can ask me anything you want—anything that bothers you, okay?”

With that sentence still lingers in the air, Aoba took a step back, and then he walks away from Clear’s lab room. For some reason, although Clear don’t know why, he wants to reach out to Aoba, he wants to grab that man’s arm, he wants to…

“I’m going to shut you down now.”

The voice from behind him was the last thing that he heard before everything fades to black.

-x-

“Aoba, stop fidgeting like that. You know that Noiz is a skilled man, right? Everything would be fine.”

Aoba looked up from the floor below him to the source of voice, and he found Koujaku standing a few centimeters beside him. Aoba bit his lower lip, and he looks over to the closed door in front of him.

“Yeah, I know about that and I’m sure that Noiz can fix him right, but…” Aoba trailed off, and a wave of uneasiness washes through him. The blue-haired man could feel something inside him stir with worry, and he gulped nervously. “But what if—what if something goes wrong and he—he just—”

“Hey,” Koujaku cut him off, closing the distance between them with a hug. Aoba’s breath hitched in surprise, and the older man sighed softly. Koujaku reached to rest his head on the top of Aoba’s head before softly brushing it, a small gesture that usually able to calm the younger man down since they were kids. “Come on, stop worrying. I know—we both know that Noiz has improved in these five years, right? He’s not a goddamned bratty kid anymore, now he’s a grown man. I know and I trust Noiz that he can fix that robot. You should too, right?”

“… Yeah,” Aoba whispered closing his eyes in an attempt to calm himself down. ‘ _It should be fine, it should be alright, and everything should go smoothly…’_

“Besides, Noiz’s only finishing fixing that robot’s speaking unit, right?” Koujaku said then with a chuckle. “Everything will be fine. This time, it’s not the same like the last time.”

“… Yeah, you’re right.” Aoba said, opening his eyes again, his gaze fixed in the closed door in front of him. “Now it’s different. It’s only his speaking unit, everything will be fine.”

Both of them stays in that position for awhile, sometimes Aoba would nervously grip the end of Koujaku’s lab coat nervously, sometimes Koujaku would wander his gaze somewhere else but Aoba, sometimes they would talk about unimportant things to pry out Aoba’s nervousness.

“You know,” Koujaku started, after ten minutes of silence, “I feel like we’re a pair of parents that’s waiting for their kid that’s in a surgery, not a pair of researchers that’s waiting for a robot to be fixed completely.”

With that, Aoba chuckled. After thirty minutes standing side by side like that, he felt the same. “Well, I know.”

“And your nervousness is getting into me a little—what’s taking that goddamn brat for so long? It’s only a speaking uni—”

Before Koujaku could finish his sentence, the lab door opened with a buzzing noise. Noiz was standing behind the door with unamused expression, his green eyes glaring coldly at Koujaku.

“I hear that, old man,” Noiz grumbled, and Aoba feel the urge to bite down his lower lip to prevent a laugh from his throat, “I’m not a ‘goddamn brat’, and I’m taking too long because old models are complicated. It’s done, anyway, that robot won’t talk to me and he’s just getting dressed.”

“I see,” Aoba said, blinking a few times before speaking again, “Can I see him? You’re finished, right?”

“Hmm,” it was only the answer Aoba got before Noiz walks away from the room to the corridor. Koujaku patted Aoba’s back softly, saying “I’ll go with Noiz to report to Mink,” before going off with Noiz. Aoba stares at Koujaku’s back for a few seconds, before turning his back to enter the lab. Before he had a chance to take a step, he was stopped by a grey-haired figure standing before him, fully dressed in white shirt and black pants. The robot’s pink irises were staring at him, as if seeing right through him, and somehow, they’re filled with wonder.

“Aoba-san?”

The voice from the figure standing before him was surprisingly soft, and somehow Aoba feels something inside his chest stirs with warmth. He knows that the figure standing before him was the robot that he found weeks ago. The robot that feels different to him.

“Yeah?”

“Ah, Aoba-san,” the grey-haired figure was tilting his head now; a small smile appears on his face. “It’s my first time talking to you, right? You said you want to know my name, right?”

“Yeah,” Aoba responds, blinking his eyes rapidly and tilting his head to the side. The robot did the same, and then a small smile appeared on his face.

“My name is Clear, it’s nice to meet you, Aoba-san.”


End file.
